Contacts:

• Friends of LESTC: Francine Geyer, P: 716-308-9754; Lyn Braun, P: 716-818-2360
• Dave White, New York Sea Grant, E: dgw9@cornell.edu, P: 315.312.3042
• Publicist Kara Lynn Dunn, E: karalynn@gisco.net, P: 315.465.7578

The Great Shipwrecks of NY’s Great Lakes exhibit will visit the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center in Hamburg, NY from October 30, 2015 through January 2016.

Guest Speaker Set for October 29

PHOTO: One of the panels in the exhibit that was featured at the late Summer 2015 Great NYS Fair in Syracuse, NY. Photo: Brian P. Whattam.

Hamburg, NY, October 19, 2015 - The Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center, 4968 Lake Shore Road Route 5, Hamburg, NY, will host the Great Shipwrecks of NY’s Great Lakes Traveling Exhibit. The exhibit will be open from 10am to 4pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting October 30, 2015 and will run through January 2016.

In a special presentation on Thursday, October 29 at 7pm at the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center, New York Sea Grant Recreation and Tourism Specialist and Great Lakes Research Consortium Associate Director Dave White will open the exhibit with a program on The Future of NY’s Maritime History: Dive the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, the NYS Underwater Blueway Trail, and National Marine Sanctuary Program.

The Great Shipwrecks exhibit, originally developed as the 2014 Great New York State Fair Signature Exhibit in the New York State Park at the Fair includes 10 interpretive panels highlighting more than 200 years of shipwrecks in Lake Erie, Ontario, Lake Champlain, the Finger Lakes, Lake George and the St. Lawrence River.

‘Capturing the fascinating maritime heritage of New York State in this exhibit is proving to be a great way to encourage interest in education, underwater science innovation, and waterfront tourism as an economic engine for our coastal communities,’ says White, recently named the 2015 New York State Boating Educator of the Year by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Albany, NY, and the Northern States Boating Educator of the Year by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, Lexington, KY.

Admission and parking at the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center are free.

New York Sea Grant coordinated the Great Shipwrecks exhibit development in partnership with the Great New York State Fair, Great Lakes Research Consortium, and Great Lakes Seaway Trail. Lake Champlain Sea Grant, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, H. Lee White Marine Museum, National Aquatics Services, Mexico, NY, Cub Scouts and others participated in the State Fair exhibit. Federal funding for The Great Shipwrecks exhibit was secured through a Great Lakes Seaway Trail National Scenic Byway grant.


Two exhibit panels featuring information on Lake Erie. 


More Info: Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center
 
The Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center opened in 2005 in the historic former Wanakah Water Works building built in 1910. The Center with its tourism, travel and visitor information and exhibits, is located on the Lake Erie waterfront approximately 12 miles south of downtown Buffalo. It is owned by the Town of Hamburg and operated by the nonprofit Friends of the Lake Erie Seaway Trail.

Information on the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center is on Facebook.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

New York Sea Grant maintains Great Lakes offices at SUNY Buffalo, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark and at SUNY Oswego.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published several times a year.